My Beloved Mrs. Abigail Has Passed Away
("Kuu Mrs. Abigail Aloha Ua Hala", Nupepa Kuokoa, January 19, 1917)
Dear Mr. Editor of the Kuokoa, Greetings:—Please be so kind as to insert in an open column1 of our treasure2 my tearful message placed above that it may waft along in the gentle winds of our beloved lands from the rising of the sun at Kumukahi to the setting of the sun on the sea’s surface at Lehua.
At 5 in the morning on Saturday, the 6th of this month, my beloved wife left me and our grandchildren, our necklaces of New Year’s Days, leaving me alone to feel the burden of tears, to mourn the love for my wife, my patient one in the pain of this world, with whom I shouldered the difficulties of the troubled days of poverty, days of hunger, who patiently sought that which would bring comfort to this life, who faced the cold and rain and the heat of the sun, who did not have a complaint until she was infirm, putting aside the customary activities of her soft hands so prized for their quality.
My dear departed wife had an open heart touched by purity, full of generosity and hospitality, welcoming friends and acquaintances who visited our humble home. So it was with travelers as well. She greeted them with enthusiasm, without envy or resentment in her heart.
She was a member of the Koloa-Honomanu Church and of the Sunday school and the C. E.3 of this district. She supported the work of the Lord in Sunday school and C. E. conventions, participating with enthusiasm and with her lessons learned by heart. Because of these qualities, her religious organizations chose her to be the delegate for two sessions of the island convention, and one session of the Hawaii-wide convention in Honolulu. Because her body grew weak, she had to leave off the work of her beloved Lord.
We two were united in the holy covenant of marriage by the Honorable P. N. Kahokuoluna of Paia on December 24, 1898. Therefore, we spent 18 years in loving companionship as husband and wife until the gold cord joining us was regretfully severed. So have the words of the Good Book come to pass, that the life of man is vapor that appears and then vanishes away.4
My beloved wife was born at Nuu, Kaupo, Maui on September 18, 1843, from the loins of her mother Kahanuala and father Kaupalolo. Therefore, she spent 73 years breathing the pleasant air of this earthly realm before sleeping the sleep of summer and winter,5 the motionless sleep of Niolopua,6 for the resounding of the trumpets of the angels of the Lord to rouse in the final day of all people.
With this, I would like to offer my thanks to the family members who stayed with me during the trying days of my beloved, as well as to the friends and associates for the gifts of flowers that adorned the cold body of my dear wife, and finally to J. K. Halemano Jr. and Beni Kaauamo, the gentlemen who carried the casket of my beloved. I ask for the Almighty’s grace, that He place his loving protection over all of you and that He ease my sorrowful thoughts and heavy heart for my dear wife.
With gratitude to you, Mr. Editor, and my regards for the youths of the printing press.7
Signed,
B.8 K. KANOA.
Honomanu, Keanae, Maui, Jan. 9, 1917.
- Literally, “room” (rumi).
- A nickname for Nupepa Kuokoa.
- Christian Endeavor Society.
- James 4:14.
- A common poetic saying for death. See entry No. 2168 in the book “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau: Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings“.
- A variation of a common poetic saying for death listed as entry No. 2167 in “ʻŌlelo Noʻeau”.
- The typesetters.
- Ben.